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Mugabe threatens Western firms with seizure

Politicsweb

Reuters21
July 2008

European companies targeted for takeover and transfer to
"friendly" countries

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe will transfer
ownership of all foreign-owned firms that support Western sanctions against
President Robert Mugabe's government to locals and investors from "friendly"
countries, a state newspaper reported on Sunday.

The southern African
state is struggling with an economic crisis many blame on Mugabe's policies,
which has left it with an inflation rate of over 2.2 million percent and
chronic shortages of food and other basic needs.

Mugabe's government
blames the crisis on sabotage by enemies angry over his seizures of
white-owned farms for blacks, and has followed up that policy with another
controversial law seeking to transfer majority ownership of foreign-owned
firms to locals.

The Sunday Mail said Zimbabwe had begun auditing the
ownership of Western firms in the country as part of a black empowerment
drive "and to counter the possible withdrawal of investment under sanctions
imposed and proposed by Britain and the U.S."

Mugabe -- fighting to
retain power after a controversial runoff poll boycotted by his rival --
says Zimbabwe's severe economic crisis is due to sabotage by former colonial
master Britain, its European Union allies and the United States.

The
Sunday Mail paper said preliminary results of Zimbabwe's audit of foreign
investments showed that 499 companies enjoyed British investments. Of these,
309 had majority shareholders in Britain and 97 were wholly owned by
Britons.

The audit also found 353 firms with shareholders from other
European countries, the weekly said in a story largely attributed to unnamed
government sources.

"A high-ranking government source told the Sunday
Mail that these companies would be targeted for takeover by local investors
and companies from friendly countries, particularly those in the Far East,
should they heed calls by the U.S. and European governments for them to
disinvest from Zimbabwe," it said.

The writing on
the wall is clear

Gulf Today, DubaiJul 21, 2008

Editorial

THE reported decision by Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe's government to seize and transfer ownership of all foreign-owned
firms that support Western sanctions against Zimbabwe worsens the
long-running conflict between the Mugabe regime and Western
governments.

According to the state-run Sunday Mail of Harare, the Mugabe
government will transfer the ownership of all such companies to locals and
investors from "friendly" countries. The decision seems to be already being
implemented, according to the report, with the Harare government having
begun auditing the ownership of Western firms in the country as part of a
black empowerment drive "and to counter the possible withdrawal of
investment under sanctions imposed and proposed by Britain and the
US."

According to the report, the audit of foreign investments showed
that 499 companies enjoyed British investments. Of these, 309 had majority
shareholders in Britain and 97 were wholly owned by Britons.

The
audit also found 353 firms with shareholders from other European
countries.

The move follows another controversial law seeking to
transfer majority ownership of foreign-owned firms to locals.

It is
an understatement that Zimbabweans are living through a major economic
crisis which owes its origins to the regime's policies. The inflation rate
is seen at over 2.2 million per cent and the people of the country are
facing chronic shortages of food and other basic needs.

The
once-thriving commercial agricultural sector of the country is in ruins,
about one-fourth of its 12 million people have fled and those who remain are
largely dependent on foreign food aid.

Indeed, Harare blames the
crisis on sabotage by enemies angry over the regime's seizures of
white-owned farms for blacks but it overlooks that it was the land grab that
created the problem.

On the political front, the regime is equally
ruthless, with a policy of eliminating opponents. There was little
legitimacy to the results of the recent presidential election from which
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew citing violence against his
supporters.

Mugabe, 84, has led Zimbabwe in various capacities since its
independence in 1980 before becoming its president in 1988. He was initially
hailed as a hero of African liberation, but over a period time his regime
became corrupt, brutal and intolerant. And the situation has been growing
worse with no sign of an end to the woes of the people of
Zimbabwe.

Pressure and sanctions have not worked, mainly because of
opposition to such moves by other African countries, some of whose leaders
are as ruthless as Mugabe himself against political dissent. Obviously, they
fear that they would also be targeted for ouster if they allowed Mugabe to
be forced out by foreign powers. What they fail to see is the probability of
the people of Zimbabwe rising up en masse against the regime and setting an
example for their own people.

In any event, the onus is on Zimbabwe's
neighbours and other African countries to persuade Mugabe to accept that it
is time for him to leave the office which he occupies without legitimacy and
that if he doesn't then they would not prevent others from forcing him to
go.

Widespread population movement among
hungry Zimbabweans signals the threat of famine as land distribution and
hyperinflation cause chronic food shortages. Photograph: Robin
Hammond

Millions of Zimbabweans are threatened with
starvation after the widespread failure of the latest harvest brought on by the
government's disastrous mishandling of land redistribution, and food shortages
in the shops caused by hyperinflation.

The United Nations says hundreds of thousands of
people require food aid immediately because they have harvested little or
nothing in recent weeks. It has warned that up to 5 million will need assistance
in the coming months. A third of the population is chronically malnourished.

But attempts to assist them are blocked by a ban on
foreign aid agencies working in rural areas after President Robert Mugabe said
they were fronts for "regime change" by Britain and the US.

Aid workers say the first signs of looming famine are
evident, with significant population movements and children arriving at
hospitals suffering from kwashiorkor (a form of malnutrition). Many families are
reduced to one meal a day, with some living on fruit berries.

The UN says that it has seen a significant rise in
the number of entire families fleeing to South Africa.

Food availability has also been hit by
hyperinflation, which economists say runs above 10m%. The central bank is
issuing a $100bn note today, the highest denomination to date but worth less
than 10p.

The crisis is adding to the pressure on Mugabe to
cede power to his opponents and save his country from further
disaster.

But he defiantly continues to blame the shortages on
an anti-government conspiracy, accusing companies of deliberately withholding
fertiliser and other agricultural necessities. He has threatened to jail those
he says are responsible.

At the weekend, the government said it was preparing
to seize foreign-owned firms it accuses of supporting sanctions against
Zimbabwe's leaders.

A medical worker in Matabeleland, where the maize
crop failure was almost total, said that there were widespread food shortages
and what did arrive was mostly given to members of Mugabe's Zanu-PF
party.

"The situation is extremely severe in Matabeleland.
Hunger is extreme. There are the odd maize deliveries but it only goes to people
with Zanu cards. Even where there is food people can't afford it," she said.

"In St Luke's hospital in Lupane there are 16
children aged five to 12 with kwashiorkor. That's significant because in
children of that age it's usually not related to HIV. It's almost certainly
because of malnutrition and it's only the tip of the iceberg. These are the ones
who made it to hospital. Most wouldn't."

"You see other signs that people are not getting
enough to eat. There's an avalanche of people leaving."

In the Masvingo area in the east, witnesses say newly
settled farmers are abandoning their land after the crop failures and making for
towns. A Zimbabwean official in the area said large numbers of people were now
resorting to desperate measures to survive including selling off precious
livestock that often represented the bulk of a family's wealth.

"It is difficult to stop people leaving the land," he
said. "People are selling livestock. They get five kilos of maize for two goats.
For a cow it's 300 kilos of maize."

"People are no longer interested in politics. They
are talking about how to survive, how to get money or food."

A report last month by the UN's Food and Agricultural
Organisation and World Food Programme estimated that the recent maize harvest
was down 28% on last year, which itself fell 44% on 2006.

The former white-owned farms are producing just 10%
of the food they did a decade ago and long-established communal farmers, who
used to grow the bulk of Zimbabwe's maize supply, are now growing about 25% of
former production.

The report blames the crop failure on a combination
of poor weather, a collapse in productivity on the redistributed white-owned
farms and other government policies that have helped created shortages of seeds
and fertiliser, and led to the collapse of infrastructure such as power and
irrigation. It says unrealistic price controls have undermined the
market.

The FAO/WFP report says that 2 million people will
need assistance in the coming weeks as what remains of their food stocks runs
out.

That number will rise to to 5.1 million early next
year.

A WFP spokesman, Richard Lee, said that the principal
obstacle to delivering food was the ban on foreign aid organisations that handle
distribution on the ground. "The issue is the continuing ban on NGO activity. We
were rounding up 300,000 of the most vulnerable people but because of the
restrictions on NGOs we are only able to reach about 135,000 people. NGOs are
absolutely crucial to our ability to deliver," he said.

The UN is pressing the government to lift the ban,
although some foreign aid agencies feel it is not pushing hard enough.

Lee said that the WFP was hearing anecdotal evidence
"that the situation is worrying in many areas".

"We're hearing these sorts of stories about reduction
in meals earlier than usual. It is worrying that it is happening so close to the
harvest. It's not Ethiopia in the mid-80s but clearly it is very worrying," he
said.

Agriculturalists warn that the situation is not
likely to improve with the next harvest. Zimbabwe requires 27,000 tonnes of
maize seed for a season's planting. This year's yield looks likely to fall as
low as 2,500 tonnes, leaving farmers with little to plant.

Zimbabwe parties edge closer to talks on power
deal

The Scotsman

Published Date: 21 July 2008By FRED BRIDGLANDin
JohannesburgZIMBABWE'S main opposition party yesterday agreed to talks about
power-sharing with Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF.The breakthrough came
after South African president Thabo Mbeki's long-term mediation efforts were
downgraded in favour of wider arbitration involving the United Nations, the
African Union and the Southern African Development Community.

Morgan
Tsvangirai, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader who has accused
Mr Mbeki of pro-Mugabe bias, had demanded extra oversight in any talks
between the MDC and Mugabe.

Having previously refused to consider talks,
Mr Tsvangirai relented after crisis meetings between African and UN
officials, which resulted in the replacement of Mr Mbeki's failed,
eight-year, one-man mediation with a strengthened four-man
team.

Haile Menkerios, assistant secretary-general for political affairs,
will represent the UN.

The 53-nation African Union will be
represented by AU Commission chairman Jean Ping.

George Chikoti is an
unusual choice to represent the 14-nation Southern African Development
Community: a former follower of rebel guerrilla chief Jonas Savimbi, Mr
Chikoti is now Angola's deputy foreign minister. Mr Mbeki will also join the
four-man team.

Mr Menkerios said he expected a memorandum of
understanding setting out the parameters of the talks to be signed today in
Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, by Mr Tsvangirai and Mugabe.

The
memorandum is understood to set out conditions for talks about talks,
containing procedures, a clear agenda and a time frame in which talks are to
be completed.

Welcoming the development Nelson Chamisa, the MDC's
chairman, said: "(The mediation process] eliminated our discomfort zone. We
now have the courage to put the next foot forward.

What is required
now is for Zanu-PF to desist from acts of bad faith, including continuing
acts of violence and attempts to sow division in our party by trying to buy
people."

Mr Tsvangirai won a presidential election on 29 March, but
without the requisite 50 per cent plus one vote majority.

He refused
to take part in a run-off election on 27 June after more than 120 of his
supporters were killed in an orgy of violence by Mugabe's party
militias.

Some 4,000 people were hospitalised and tens of thousands
made homeless.

Mugabe, 84, declared himself president unopposed for
another five years.

Should the talks produce a negotiated settlement,
Zimbabwe could attract billions of pounds from donors in recovery
aid.

Among others, Britain has promised £1 billion, the United States
£800 million, the UN Development Programme £400 million and the European
Union £200 million.

Zimbabwe's full reconstruction will cost
multiples of these amounts. The bulk of earmarked rescue money carries
stringent conditions and a proviso that Mugabe steps down from absolute
power.

Some four million of Zimbabwe's 12 million population have fled to
other countries, mainly to South Africa and Botswana.

ZIMBABWE will
today introduce a $100 billion banknote - enough to buy one loaf of
bread.

The new banknote is worth about 62p.

Central bank chief
Gideon Gono said the note was being brought in to help consumers who have to
pay huge amounts of cash for the smallest transactions. Previously, the
highest-denomination note was Z$50 billion.

Dr Gono, who is Robert
Mugabe's personal banker, admitted last week that annual inflation in
Zimbabwe had hit 2.2 million per cent. Privately, economists claim the
figure is closer to 12 million per cent.

Prices have soared since Mugabe,
84, claimed victory in last month's sham election, bringing misery to
millions of Zimbabweans.

Zimbabwe Opposition to Sign Agreement for Talks
Today

VOA

By Peter ClotteyWashington, D.C.21 July
2008

Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with the
ruling ZANU-PF party ahead of the start of another round of peace talks
today. The memorandum of understanding aims at setting guidelines on
substantive consultation between President Robert Mugabe's party and the
opposition. This comes after South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, who is
mandated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to mediate
between the two opposing parties proposed a team from SADC and the United
Nations to help with the mediation efforts.

Some Zimbabweans have
reportedly expressed optimism about a new round of peace talks aimed at
resolving the ongoing political and economic crisis. Glen Mpani is the
regional coordinator for the transitional justice program of the Center for
the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in Cape Town, South Africa. He
tells reporter Peter Clottey from Johannesburg that the opposition MDC
should approach the talks with cautious optimism.

"The signing of the
memorandum of understanding or a framework in which the talks can be held
between the MDC political party and the ruling party ZANU-PF is a step in
the right direction in terms of ensuring that at least we can be able to
start a process of negotiation. But I think we should be cautious about this
process because it is only a start on a journey of many issues where both
political parties are not in agreement. It is more or less like the
negotiation between north and south because the issues that are going are so
core and central. So, it is exciting, but there should be a cautious
optimism in the way we look at this negotiation," Mpani noted.

He said
the opposition was reasonable in demanding a broader mediation effort in the
next round of peace talks.

"I think they (opposition) are justified, and
I think it is a diplomatic triumph for the MDC because one of the core
issues that they were raising was the issue of broadening the mediation.
That was the core and central in terms of ensuring that one, there is an
impartial process that is acceptable to both parties," he said.

Mpani
said with the premise of opposing sides both agreeing to the framework of
the talks, it shows a sign of good things to come.

"A process that is
agreed by all parties will ultimately lead to some process or an outcome
that is generally acceptable. The previous arrangement, where a mediation
was being foisted on the MDC, was not in the interest of coming up with a
solution for Zimbabwe. So I think this process way from the onset, both
parties agree on the framework and the mediation structure will in itself
assist in creating confidence and ensuring that at least they come up with a
position that is conducive for all political parties on the table," Mpani
pointed out.

Meanwhile, President Robert Mugabe has reportedly threatened
to transfer ownership of all foreign-owned firms that support Western
sanctions against his administration and the entire leadership of the ruling
ZANU-PF party to locals and investors from "friendly"
countries.

Mpani described President Mugabe's government as
unfortunate.

"Such comments at this point in time are quite regrettable.
But they needed to be treated with the seriousness it deserves because I
think ZANU-PF government has managed to carry through their word each and
every statement that they say, based on the land issue. If you look at the
mining issue and if you also look at the effect of cutting prices, they are
serious comments. But if I were in the ZANU-PF, I would dissuade them from
taking that approach because it would erode the level of confidence,
particularly in these current negotiations," Mpani noted.

Robert Mugabe's thuggery gets help from high places
at United Nations

New York Daily News

Sunday, July 20th 2008, 5:45 PM

Stanley CrouchIn
1945, as the war in Europe was winding down, American soldiers began to
discover the death camps built by the Third Reich in which Jews and others
considered too imperfect were murdered and treated with such savagery that
every thought about civilization and civilized nations was proven to be only
provisional.

Dwight D. Eisenhower proved to be extremely farsighted.
Looking at all of the cadavers and the hills of human ash, he ordered that
every available photographer and film crew in the European theater be
brought to the camps because, the general said, unless this is recorded, 50
years from now there will be people who will say that it did not
happen.

We know those people as Holocaust deniers. But few have denied
the killing fields of Cambodia, the ethnic cleansing of Bosnia, or the Congo
River choked with black corpses hacked to death in Rwanda and turned white
by the river.

No matter the color, no matter the place, once men,
women and children are sufficiently dehumanized by the regime in power, the
results are always the same. The slaughter will take on a determined
fortitude that evolves into a frenzy and does not abate until exhaustion or
outside intervention brings it to a screeching halt. This is the burden of
no single group. It is a burden that we all must bear because it is the
darkest legacy of our humanity: violent xenophobia.

The most obvious
and recent bad guy is Robert Mugabe, who has destroyed the economy of
Zimbabwe, and had people beaten, kidnapped or murdered for no reason other
than exercises in power and corruption. This has been so well documented
that the United States and Great Britain recently tried to have sanctions
brought against Mugabe at the United Nations. They wanted him to step down
because he stole the recent election by having voters beaten and turned away
from the polls or terrorized in other ways.

Mugabe, who fittingly wears a
Hitlerian mustache, denies this and defends himself by saying that Zimbabwe
won its independence from England in 1987 and will not be colonized
again!

For all of his greatness, even Nelson Mandela has had no
influence. He has called for Mugabe to step down. The rest of the African
leaders seem to understand the pressures that their brother Mugabe is under
and will not aid in making him out to be a literally bloody fool.

So
Zimbabwe, like Darfur, continues to bleed and suffer.

The actions of the
Africans are not much different than the European nations that sat on their
hands as the Serbs used genocidal tactics against Bosnia, claiming to defend
themselves. At no point have outside nations been concerned enough to try
and physically stop the slaughters of the innocent whose greatest crime is
that they have been dehumanized and accused of being a threat to those who
murder them.

When the U.S. and Britain tried to have sanctions brought
against Zimbabwe by the UN, Russia was followed by China in using its
Security Council veto power, pulling Mugabe's bloody bacon from the
fire.

That should have been a great lesson to the world. Whether anyone
else does or not, totalitarians always understand each other: It's hard out
here for those who resort to mass murder and brutal intimidation when
democracy doesn't work. That's a hard one to swallow, but somebody has to
wash it down with the honeyed water of revolutionary rhetoric.

The land of Rolexes and handouts

For 27 years, Owen has worked as a free professional at a large
company. Now, his pension of 61 million Zimbabwe dollars will only buy him
six apples at the central market place of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe,
where he lives. He says that while the economy is ruined, Zimbabwe's 270
Jews enjoy better personal security than in South Africa.

Owen, who
requested his real name be withheld for safety reasons, was the only
resident of Zimbabwe who 10 days ago attended a large reunion in Ra'anana
for ex-Zimbabweans, organized by Telfed, the South African Zionist
Federation Israel.

"The whole idea in Zimbabwe is low profile. Don't
raise your head. This is why I don't want my name mentioned," he said at the
Ra'anana Bowling Club, where 300 Southern Africans turned out. Yet for Owen,
moving to South Africa as many Zimbabwean Jews have done over the years, is
not an option. "In Harare we can still walk and feel safe. We don't have
South Africa's huge crime problem, we can go into town and all that," he
explained. As for moving to Israel, Owen says that he will stay in Zimbabwe
as long as his children receive a good education.

"Also, I stay
because it's my home - even with all the nonsense going on," he says in an
apparent reference to the dictatorial rigging of elections and executions of
dissidents by President Robert Mugabe. At 57, Owen's one of the youngest
members of his dwindling community. "They're all old people, and they have
no access to the decision makers," he added.

Zimbabwe's Jews are too old
to leave, Owen says, and outside funding is the only way for them to survive
in a failed economy afflicted by the worst inflation rate witnessed anywhere
in recent years. "You need at least a few trillion to manage," he says - the
equivalent of a few hundred U.S. dollars.

Owen relies on foreign currency
to maintain a lifestyle which he calls "affluent." Whipping out from his
pocket a slim iPhone cellular device, he browses through pictures of his
spacious home in Zimbabwe - which he jokingly calls "the only country where
people like me wear Rolex watches and get food handouts."

Failing Zimbabwe

New York Times

Editorial

Published: July 21, 2008The
brutality with which Robert Mugabe stole Zimbabwe's elections last month
embarrassed even his usual friends, allies and enablers. Unfortunately, it
has not embarrassed them enough. Unless Russia, China and South Africa can
be shamed into bringing real pressure against Mr. Mugabe and his henchmen,
quickly, he will settle in for another term of disastrous
misrule.

Talks now likely to begin in South Africa this week between Mr.
Mugabe's party and that of Morgan Tsvangirai, the first-round election
winner, may be the best way to prevent that, provided they, unlike past
efforts, are not conducted on the dictator's chosen terms.It's a
promising sign that other African leaders have persuaded South Africa's
president, Thabo Mbeki, Mr. Mugabe's chief international enabler, to bring
additional, more impartial members onto his mediation team.

Success
is far from certain. Sustained international pressure will be needed to
assure an acceptable outcome - either an internationally supervised rerun of
the election or a negotiated transition leading to Mr. Mugabe's swift
departure and Mr. Tsvangirai's inauguration.

Mr. Mugabe is a master
at fanning racial resentments and blaming the West for his many failures.
African leaders, who have been far too tolerant of Mr. Mugabe for far too
long, will now have to press both Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Mbeki for a fair and
swift resolution.

The Bush administration must also keep pushing for
action in the Security Council. Most Council members voted for an
American-drafted resolution that would have imposed an arms embargo and
tough sanctions against Mr. Mugabe's top henchmen, only to see Moscow and
Beijing cast completely unjustified vetoes.

It should press ahead
with its own escalating bilateral penalties, encouraging others (in Europe,
Africa and elsewhere) to do the same.

And, if the South African talks
fail, it should encourage all countries to recognize Mr. Tsvangirai as head
of a legitimate government in exile.

President Bush went out of his way
at the Group of Eight summit meetings to praise Russia's new president,
Dmitri Medvedev, and has granted China one of its fondest wishes by agreeing
to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Russia and China
still vetoed the American-backed resolution aimed at prying Mr. Mugabe's
most essential collaborators away from his destructive cause.

One can
say that both countries' willingness to ambush the American administration
is just one of the wages of Mr. Bush's failed foreign policy. But on
Zimbabwe Mr. Bush is right, and he must keep pressing Russia, China, Europe
and Africa to do what is right.

Nearly 30 years ago, the world demanded
an end to political terror and the establishment of majority rule in
Zimbabwe. Russia, China and South Africa's then-outlawed African National
Congress all played key roles in that fight.

Where are they now when
Robert Mugabe has decided to defy the majority rule that first brought him
to power and rely on political terror to impose himself as
dictator-for-life? If they can't recognize that they have now shamefully
betrayed Zimbabwe's people, President Bush and the rest of the world need to
remind them.

Mugabe, Disgrace to Africa

This Day, Nigeria

By Remi Ogunmefun,
07.21.2008

When the famous Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe said that the
problem of the African continent is poor leadership, not a few people
thought he was wrong. He spoke the minds of many Africans. Observers of
world trends and developments also agree that there exists a wide difference
between Africa and the rest of the world. This is largely due to the poor
status of African leadership. The situation is so bad that information
transported about us all over the world are detestable. They are news of
wars, militia insurgencies, corruption, embezzlements of state funds and
general mismanagement. The Western media is awash with stories of famine,
insecurity and crimes in the tone that sometimes makes one wonder if
anything good can be said of us.The fault is not from the media. It
rests squarely on the shoulders of African leaders who facilitate these sad
developments. I remember the days of the crusade for debt forgiveness which
I joined through my write ups. In return, African leaders were expected to
promote good public governance and exhibit standards of good leadership in
Africa. There were even forecast with milestones coming out of Africa at the
time -a situation many of us opined was a positive development especially
under the proposed new leadership initiative. Many Westerners, predominantly
blacks, began looking toward the African continent with great expectations
hoping that Africa would in no time catch up with the rest of the world.
Alas, years after, we are yet to catch up with them. Perhaps, the rise of
colored people like Barrack Obama has made the people of Africa to be proud
and hopeful of a better future. It is a thing of joy that a black man is
about to lead the world.The current development in Zimbabwe is however a
total disappointment to most of us Africans. Persons like Robert Mugabe have
always given us a bad name in the world's eyes. It is unfortunate to note
that this man who was once hailed as a symbol of new Africa has descended
into this very low estate. The reason for this is still a mystery to many of
us. Many strongly believe that Mugabe is still living in the past and so
fails to understand that no nation lives in isolation of all others. The
achievements the black people have made over the years are gradually being
wiped off by his actions. At 84 years, a time when he ought to be retired,
he regrettably still thinks that without him, a whole nation of people has
no future. He sure does not understand that the world of today is a global
village, where nations that desire progress for their people work and
cooperate with one another. He obviously does not also appreciate that the
fact that although the bush war of the Rhodesian liberation movement ended
in 1980, Zimbabwe must cooperate with the world in order to
prosper.Today, the Robert Mugabe leadership has led to the end of the well
being of his people. According to the World Health Organization, Zimbabweans
have the shortest life expectancy of 37 years for men and 34 for women. It
has the greatest percentage of orphans - 25% according to UNICEF and its
annual inflation is 1,281%. Zimbabwe is in a state of total hyper inflation.
The economy has collapsed and food shortages and internal displacement are
the order of the day. There is wide spread abuse of human rights and the
rule of the law is totally dead. Zimbabwe is technically a failed state
requiring international intervention.The sad part of it is that Robert
Mugabe received good education and ordinarily should support societal
development. He attended Universities in South Africa, Oxford and the
University of London. He had exposures to best practices and the opportunity
of leading a nation that is blessed with natural resources. At one point
that country was a model for Africa. For almost forty years Mugabe has been
at the head of Zimbabwe. The resultant effect of his leadership is that a
nation blessed so much is today one of the poorest and failed nations of the
world. When listened to, he talks of the past and his willingness to go back
to the bush to fight his perceived enemies. He has no love for his people
and is not concerned about their well being. Leaders like Mugabe do more
harm than good to us. They give the continent a bad name and make the world
disrespect us.All over the world, good leaders are promoting good public
governance and cooperation among nations. A good leader must know how to
work with the world in a bid to drive and gain advantage for his people. But
where we have a leader fighting the leaders of the world, being
uncooperative with neighboring states, he would only be mocked by all and
sundry. This is the state of affairs for Mugabe and the state of Zimbabwe
which unfortunately robs off on all Africans. It is now becoming clear that
our continent must start developing rules of engagement in African nations'
affairs so as to forestall any of such ugly occurrences. There is need to
publicly shun this kind of leaders who put all us to shame. We must
collectively get rid of them.There is no good leader in the world that
is still actively pursuing isolationist policies. Nations must cultivate
friendship of other nations for the benefit of their people. Even the great
isolationist nations of Cuba, North Korea, Russia and the countries of
Eastern Europe have all shed their curtains and are working cooperatively
with the world. It baffles me how an African leader, with the peculiar
circumstances of our continent hopes to lead his people to prosperity by
inviting the world to a fight. This shows that Robert Mugabe is out of tune
with today's realities and we should all collectively demand that this man
step down from the leadership of Zimbabwe and stop appropriating colossal
damage on the image and credibility of Africans.. remiogunmefun@hotmail.com

New farm wages announced

HARARE - The National Employment Council for the Agricultural
Industry has announced new wages for farm workers under which the least paid
Grade A1 labourer will earn $390 billion this month, up from the previous
$1,5 billion.

This development came after an agreement signed on
July 11 between the General Agricultural and Plantation Workers' Union of
Zimbabwe (Gapwuz) and farmer organisations that include the Zimbabwe
Farmers' Union (ZFU) and the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers' Union.An
employer can, however, make an application to the National Employment
Council to be exempted or partly exempted from paying wages as stipulated in
the schedule stating the reasons why his/her application should be
considered.All A2 workers are entitled to $396 billion per month up from
last month's $1,525 billion.The highest earning Grade C2 workers will
earn $491 billion, up from last month's $1,890 billion.Negotiations for
the review of these wages will be held to determine next month's
wages.Most farm workers were now opting to be given food hampers instead of
cash as the stipulated wages were no longer enough to buy even one grocery
item. - Harare Bureau.

Remain vigilant, security forces told

PRESIDENT Mugabe yesterday urged the country's security forces to
remain vigilant in the face of repeated assaults on Zimbabwe's sovereignty,
and the defence forces assured the nation that they will defend their will
as expressed in the June 27 presidential election run-off.

Cde Mugabe
said Zimbabwe enjoyed peace and stability because of the security forces'
unquestionable discharge of their constitutional role of defending the
country's sovereignty as well as maintaining law and order.

"It is,
therefore, incumbent on the forces to be always vigilant in the face of
repeated attempts to demean and disrespect our sovereignty," said President
Mugabe.

Cde Mugabe, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence
Forces, was speaking at the presentation of prizes to winners at this year's
President's Medal Shooting Competition at the Cleveland Shooting Range in
Harare.

"I am pleased that the level of discipline and
professionalism displayed by the competitors is synonymous with that
displayed by our security forces in their respective domains as well as on
the international missions where they have proved to be a cut above the
rest," said Cde Mugabe.

Following President Mugabe's victory on June 27,
Britain, the United States and the European Union have been trying - but
unsuccessfully so far - to impose more sanctions on Zimbabwe through the
United Nations Security Council and install MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai
as president of Zimbabwe on the basis of the first round presidential
election, in which he led.

But in his welcome remarks, the Commander of
the Zimbabwe National Army, Lieutenant-General Philip Sibanda - who hosted
this year's event - said they would ensure the will of the people as
expressed on June 27 will not be overturned by anyone.

He said
President Mugabe's resounding victory in the run-off had left Zimbabwe's
detractors wondering what had hit them.

The detractors were doing
everything possible to overturn the people's will but the defence forces
would thwart them, said Lt-Gen Sibanda.

"I would like first and foremost
to congratulate His Excellency and indeed the nation at large as well as the
defence and security services for standing solidly behind our candidate
(President Mugabe) in the just-ended elections.

"The resounding win
by His Excellency left our detractors wondering as to what had hit them.
This victory is in total support of our 100 Percent Empowerment and Total
Independence as espoused by you, Your Excellency, during the campaign for
the run-off.

"Your Excellency, it is true that our detractors are very
unhappy with your victory and are doing everything possible to overturn the
people's will. We must, therefore, ensure that they do not succeed in their
endeavours to derail the aspirations of our people," said Lt-Gen
Sibanda.

In a vote of thanks on behalf of Minister of Defence Dr Sydney
Sekeramayi, Cde Didymus Mutasa, the Minister of National Security, Lands,
Land Reform and Resettlement, said Zimbabwe's detractors had envisioned
bloodshed in the country in the aftermath of the elections but that had not
materialised.

He said this would never happen because Zimbabweans were
now aware of the detractors' machinations.

The co-operation between
civilians and the defence forces as exhibited in the competition showed
Zimbabweans were a united people, said Cde Mutasa.

Political
Hubris and the Forgotten Masses: Reclaiming the future

The first
time, they voted with tears of blood hoping to rid their country of a regime
that has caused them untold suffering characterized by miserable poverty,
disease and flagrant human rights violations. It did not happen. It was
democracy 'African-style' where they were told that 'a mere X' would not
count since it has no power 'to fight with a gun'. They were dragged again
into another round of voting under the coercion of frightful men ready to
torture, intimidate, eliminate or decimate. The real story about how the
nation has been traumatized is still untold. The horrors live on.
Unfortunately, scores never lived to reclaim a plundered future as they were
precipitously devoured. Our thoughts and prayers go out to them.

Now
the citizens are totally powerless, frustrated, confused and angered by what
is going on in the Zimbabwe. There is nowhere to turn to for help and it is
a desperate case of just hoping against hope for a citizenry whose country
has intractably veered so off the road. They are already caught up again,
suffering collateral damage emanating from protracted 'talks about talks' to
bring the belligerent parties together by way of a government of national
unity. It is a showdown on how most of those narcissistic politicians from
both sides of the aisle hype about how important they are to the nation
jostling for positions while the country continues to burn. The sad part is
that in spite of all the ongoing machinations, the ordinary people's script
of life is again being re-written by the same failed politicians who have no
clue on how to get us out of the quagmire. .

One of the tragedies of our
crisis and our time is that there is a vacuum of leadership that champions
the cause of the common people. Martin Luther King was not a politician but
a civil rights leader who fought for social justice. Where are the Marin
Luthers of Zimbabwe? We all know politicians have one common goal, to get
more power and certainly more money at all costs. We see that by their
lifestyle and the wealth that they amass for themselves yet the rest of the
population agonizes e especially in Africa and brazenly in Zimbabwe where
Zanu PF party has immensely benefited its bosses. The irony about 'Hondo
yeminda' (war for land, or war on land!) and sovereignty 'struggle' is that
it has caused the displacement of 25 percent of the population fleeing the
country as political or economic refugees. Maybe we need 'Hondo
yemaComputer' as the next frontier as that will not impoverish a nation. I
strongly suspect that this whole farce about land is a generational issue,
if we are serious about poverty eradication and national development, we
need to attract seasoned commercial farmers (black and white) the same way
we attract foreign investment into the country. Give me free land and I will
say no, because its value is sacred and the thought of putting it to
economic waste causes hallucinations. In the modern world, the last time I
checked, nowhere on earth was land given for free.

South Africa is
bleeding with illegal Zimbabweans who are flooding that country every day.
The economic and political environment in Zimbabwe is so bad that if no
political turnaround is achieved soon, only Mugabe and his genuflecting
cabal, his beneficiaries and those that are not able-bodied will remain
there. Hopefully South Africa will begin to wake up to the challenges of
refugee influx as social chaos makes that country ungovernable. We already
saw how barbarically xenophobic some of our brothers and sisters are down
there. Things will only get worse.

These politicians can never read the
writings on the wall or the signs of a turning tide. Clever as he is, if I
were Mugabe, I would work genuinely and tirelessly for the success of a GNU,
putting away all the hubris and intransigence that is endangering the
workability of a GNU. Going that route produces a predictable outcome than
hanging on to the dictatorship. Mugabe's legacy is tainted with numerous
acts of mischief. Lately he lost an election, whose results were doctored
for six weeks before being announced, and afterwards announced himself
winner of the solo presidential runoff that ensued and he is still 'ruling'.
Moving quickly to embrace GNU will afford him at least a quasi graceful
exist because an honorable departure has had its opportunity squandered ten
to fifteen years ago. Such a decision might also redeem him as a statesman
among those who still adore him (for whatever reason). It also gives him an
opportunity to negotiate for a 'Hague' clause in the GNU agreement that
might immunize him against a furore over human rights abuses. At the end of
the day, a GNU without Tsvangirai as Prime Minister is unthinkable,
deservedly so. Tsvangirai certainly has what it takes to extricate the
country from isolationism that these Marxist intellectual ideologues plunged
us into. We do not need any more surreptitious Chinese bribes but a bold
economic recovery initiative. In any case a GNU that makes Mugabe President
literally makes him life President assuming that the term of office extends
for six more years. At the end of his term, the man will be 90 years old and
naturally geriatric disorders would have taken a toll, end of
story.

Bottom-line? It is time the common people are outraged and demand
a change of course. It is the urgency of now that should cause the people to
refuse to accept the status-quo. The country belongs more to the people than
to Mugabe and his men. It is time people confront the challenges by
demanding a working government that is accountable to its people and a quick
resolution to the crisis. It is in the citizens' interest to see to it that
the Zimbabwe they love is sacrificed for beginning to mobilize for peaceful
organized chaos. Power to the People should be the new slogan for every
freedom and prosperity-loving Zimbabwean!

Undercover in Zimbabwe

ABC Australia

20/07/2008

By Andrew
Geoghegan

I don't know if it's good fortune or the careless attitude of
the border guards that has allowed me to enter Zimbabwe four times without
being arrested. Only once have I been searched when crossing the border and
then, luckily, I had nothing to hide. On the other occasions the officials
have taken a cursory look at my passport. Their only problem has been trying
to find an empty page on which to paste the impressive looking
visa.

Each time I enter the country I assume a different persona.. anyone
other than a journalist. To be accused of being a foreign correspondent is a
serious crime in Mugabe's Zimbabwe. Colleagues of mine have been jailed for
weeks and suffered beatings and relentless interrogations. Understandably
I'm keen to avoid getting up close and personal with state
security.

My passport betrays my repeated trips into the country, so I'm
always a little surprised and of course relieved when I'm allowed through.
While trying to look nonchalant I find my self constantly looking over my
shoulder to see if I'm being followed or at least watched.

I think
some of the border guards are well aware of what I'm doing, but are quite
happy to let me go because they either don't care or they'd like to see the
back of Robert Mugabe.

It's easy to develop a false sense of security in
Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe's notorious thugs work behind the scenes. It's the
police roadblocks that make me nervous. Most of the time the cops just want
money. However, bribing a police officer is no easy task in Zimbabwe. Even a
small bribe can amount to an arm-load of Zim dollars, making it somewhat
obvious to anyone who cares to take notice.

My success in being able
to file radio and television stories while in Zimbabwe is due to the
extensive underground network that thrives in the country. I've met dozens
of people who've been willing to risk their own safety to not only protect
me, but also allow me to practice journalism. Some have helped smuggle my
broadcasting equipment in to the country. Others have driven me into areas,
which in retrospect may have been unwise to visit. Many of these people are
not connected to the opposition. They've simply had enough of Robert Mugabe
and long for a prosperous and democratic nation.

As a white man
moving around the country I'm fairly conspicuous ... doing so with my
cameraman Wayne McAllister was even more obvious. On my last visit Wayne and
I stayed in Harare for five days. We'd travel the same way to and from our
safe house. we had little choice, it was the only road to the city. I was
conscious that we'd pass the same people each day. would any of them report
these strangers to the authorities? Other journalists have been caught this
way.

With that threat in mind I had mixed emotions when I got word that
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had agreed to meet us for an interview.
I was excited at the prospect of a gaining a rare one on one interview with
the MDC leader, who had been in hiding. But I also realised that it would
raise the stakes considerably in our game of deception with the authorities.
We'd planned to talk to him at his house. Surely agents from the feared
Central Intelligence Office would be watching movements around the
house.

Joining Wayne and I on the way to the Tsvangirai compound was
Australian Jim Holland who'd helped organise the interview. Jim Holland's
wife Sekai is a newly elected Zimbabwean senator and a close confidant of
the MDC leader. The half hour drive took us into a well to do neighbourhood
in Harare's northern suburbs. Our driver had been careful to take the
backstreets just in case we were followed. As we approached the cul-de-sac
where Tsvangirai lived my pulse raced. I could see a man standing on the
corner talking on his mobile phone. I was relieved when he waved us through.
More serious looking men stood in the street watching our arrival. all MDC
security personnel on the look out.

We quickly jumped out of our van,
the large metal gate swung open and we were ushered through. On the other
side were more security men. They checked our bags and motioned us towards a
group of white people sitting in deck chairs on the lawn. It looked as
though it could have been the backyard of any large Australian home. Tall
gum trees swayed by the back fence, manicured buffalo grass led to a pool.
As I approached the group of men and women sitting in the deck chairs I
noticed they were all dressed in suits. They stared at us as if we were
interlopers crashing their afternoon cocktail party. In a way we were. they
were foreign embassy staff invited for a briefing with Morgan Tsvangirai.
Among them was the Australian ambassador John Courtney. He greeted us warmly
and was keen to know how we got into the country. It was a jovial
atmosphere, almost surreal, for as we were talking on the other side of the
city Robert Mugabe was being sworn in as president for the sixth
time.

Out from around the side of house walked Morgan Tsvangirai, dressed
in a suit and looking confident and relaxed. He greeted me warmly and Wayne
and I quickly organised ourselves for the interview. Mind you we didn't
really have much to organise, all Wayne had was a little digi-cam that many
tourists carry. I had a tiny microphone that I attached to the end of my pen
so I could follow the conversation. It must have looked as though we were
first year journalism students, but the basic equipment was enough to record
an interview of broadcast quality.

After the interview Morgan
Tsvangirai met his official guests and we were politely shown to the gate. I
held my breath as we walked through, again hoping that there wasn't someone,
other than our driver, waiting for us on the other side. We jumped in the
van and off we went on a bumpy ride through Harare's pot-holed back
streets.

A day later we were on our way back to Johannesburg. Each time I
leave Zimbabwe I feel emotionally exhausted. While trying to concentrate on
getting the story there's also the worry of getting caught. But then at
least I can leave the country, millions of Zimbabweans can't afford to do so
and are forced to suffer as their country collapses around them.

Why anyone supports Mugabe escapes me

The
question I would like to pose to die-hard fans of Robert Mugabe is: how long
do you plan to stand by your beloved leader?- Phakeme Khumalo, by
e-mail

I am shocked each time I see images of Zimbabwean
women celebrating and applauding the man.

My shock leads to deep
confusion. The women smile so broadly one would swear Mugabe was Prince
Charming. An ignorant person who came across these pictures would think
things were wonderful in Zimbabwe.

As clichéd as it might sound,
things are not always what they seem.

Zimbabwe is far from inspiring the
world. Is there anything inspiring about a country that embarrasses its
African neighbours?

The rape, torture and dehumanisation of its people
are detestable elements of that unfortunate country.

The
following adjectives describe the state of affairs in Zimbabwe: inhumane,
undemocratic, depressing, unwelcoming. I could go on.

What is the
result of Mugabe's hard-headedness and heart of stone?

For one, his
country is regarded as a rotten apple by foreign countries. This status has
had devastating effects socially, politically and economic ally.

What
are pro-Mugabe advocates hoping to gain by worshipping him? Why would anyone
vote for him?

I find myself forced to ask two questions: who are the
people willing to vote for Mugabe, and are they literate? It should be noted
that by literate, I mean sane.

Fortunately, there seem to
be people who share my state of confusion. I am comforted by the thought
that some of these people are in positions of power and
influence.

Consequently, I can only hope that they might bring about the
dethroning of Mugabe and that he will be defeated.

President Thabo
Mbeki is, regrettably, excluded from this list of influential people.

Yar'Adua: Nigeria Doesn't Recognise Mugabe's
Election

This Day, Nigeria

By Paul Ohia with reports, 07.21.2008

President Umaru Musa
Yar'Adua has said he does not recognise the June 27 run-off in Zimbabwe in
which the country's President Robert Mugabe stood as the only candidate and
was returned to power.The opposition candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, withdrew
from the election alleging intimidation by Mugabe."Africans must ensure
that we anchor democracy on credible elections. We could not recognise the
run-off election as the basis of a solution to the Zimbabwe crisis,"
Yar'Adua said in his first public reaction to the crisis in the Southern
African country.President Yar'Adua, who addressed a distinguished audience
of Chatham House think tank in London during his four-day official visit,
said that despite the flaws observed in Nigerian elections, the country is
committed to the development of genuine democracy."Nigeria's goal is a
commitment to the development of genuine democracy to ensure that genuine
democracy becomes the dominant culture that provides a framework for
development on the African continent," Yar' Adua was quoted by
inthenews.co.uk as saying.The President said Nigeria believes in the
rule of law not only within but anywhere on the African
continent.Responding to questions about the issue of his own legitimacy,
Yar'Adua said he had laid out electoral reform plans for Nigeria in his
inaugural address and remained committed to seeing through the changes
needed."We only deceive ourselves if we continue to pretend that
post-election (violence) is not a threat to peace and stability," he added,
underlining "our abiding belief that persistent stability cannot survive in
a system without the rule of law."Meanwhile, moves are being made to
make the opposition in Zimbabwe and the Mugabe government arrive at a
consensus but Tsvangirai refused to sign an accord leading to talks
yesterday until mediator Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's President, has
addressed some concerns.Sources in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
said MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai might sign the document as early as today
so that talks could begin on ending an impasse with President Mugabe's
ruling ZANU-PF.Yesterday, Tsvangirai's spokesman, George Sibotshiwe, said
the MDC leader would not sign until Mbeki, criticised for his failure to
help end the stand-off, ironed out concerns with parts of the memorandum,
which sets out guidelines on substantive negotiations."I think in
principle the decision is to sign the document. We are committed to the
dialogue process," Sibotshiwe told Reuters."Our executive and council have
already gone through the document and have raised their concerns with the
facilitator ... the onus is on the facilitator to ensure that those things
are sorted out in order for the signing to happen within the required
time."Asked whether a signing was likely today, Sibotshiwe replied "I cannot
answer that. (Mukoni) Ratshitanga, the spokesperson for President Mbeki, is
the only person who can respond to that."Ratshitanga said he was not
aware of any plans for Mbeki to travel to Zimbabwe "any time soon" and
declined to comment on what concerns the MDC had raised.Like Yar' Adua,
the MDC has refused to recognise Mugabe's overwhelming victory.The
stalemate has dented hopes of halting an economic crisis in Zimbabwe widely
blamed on the policies of Mugabe, who has been in power since independence
from Britain in 1980.The meltdown has shown itself in record inflation of
well above 2 million per cent, chronic shortages of basic food and other
commodities, and extremely high unemployment.Mugabe blames the crisis on
economic sabotage by Western enemies he says have supported the MDC as
revenge for the government's seizure of white-owned farms for
blacks.Critics say Mbeki's mediation efforts have made no progress because
his soft diplomacy is slanted in Mugabe's favour.Tsvangirai won
Zimbabwe's first-round presidential vote in March.Official figures showed he
did not get the absolute majority needed to avoid a second-round election,
but the MDC insists its leader won outright the first time.

Zimbabwe is a small issue; why won't Bush
just invade it?

There is this
nagging Zimbabwean situation that just won't go away. But how would it go
away when most world leaders support Dr Robert Gabriel Mugabe? He is a
member of their club and that is what matters. And Mr Morgan Tsvangirai is
just a nuisance that is trying to spoil the party.

Start with the United
States, which has the capability to take Bob Gabriel out if it so wished.
Consider the reasons they invaded Iraq and removed Saddam Hussein. If Saddam
was less democratic than Mugabe, that is something they need to convince the
world about. At least, the last time Mugabe won the general election, he got
the same or higher percentage score than Saddam.

At least we now know
the other little story of weapons of mass destruction was just that - a
story. Nobody believes it now and those who ordered the invasion did not
believe it then. So Saddam's main crime was lack of democracy.

Well,
what the Zimbabwean opposition was going through during the electioneering
period by the time they chose to remain alive rather than participate in the
voting cannot be any better than what Saddam's political opponents suffered.
So for that matter, one would expect the US to mobilise the UK and a few
other rich friends to attack Zimbabwe.

The British public would actually
support this invasion more than they supported the Iraq venture, since they
have far more relatives farming in Zimbabwe than they had doing anything in
Iraq. And speaking in military terms, the goons that were killing people in
Zimbabwe would present a weaker challenge to US and UK troops than the Iraqi
army did.

We can also add that the Zimbabwean population, which had given
Mugabe less votes than his main opponent in the first round of voting, would
not be as hostile to the invaders as the Iraqi population was and still
is.

What is more, invading Zimbabwe would present less public-relations
problems than the Iraqi experience. You see, the Zimbabwe culture is close
to the Western one because of long-term association. Many black Zimbabweans
are Christian and a big number have English surnames.

So, you would
have the ultimate humiliation that the captured Iraqi soldiers went through.
We are told some of the Iraqi prisoners cannot even testify against their
tormentors because as Muslims, they would rather suffer silent anguish than
admit, for example, some of the things American women did to them in
captivity.

What about African governments and our African Union? If they
really wanted, Africans could sort out the Zimbabwean mess in a matter of
days. They all agree there is no democracy at work in Zimbabwe and that the
life of anybody who does not support the ruling party can be snuffed out
anytime.

So, why don't they deploy a force like they did in Somalia? Even
with a shortage of ready cash, there should be willing governments to send
troops like Uganda did in Somalia, until the international community
contributes.

African states have in recent history intervened militarily
in situations where their interests are threatened, and now under the AU we
are all brothers and what happens in Zimbabwe is of interest to us. See what
happened in Congo.

Uganda took troops there because of Allied
Democratic Front rebels, Rwanda deployed its soldiers because genocidaires
were regrouping. Angola was there to help strengthen the government in
Kinshasa. And yes, Zimbabwe too did not hesitate to send troops to try
restore democracy and sane governance in Congo. Or did they go for other
reasons? Why can't they do the same today in Zimbabwe?

When democracy
was under threat in Comoros, Tanzania did not sit back. It brandished its
military might and matters were sorted out rather quickly. So, if we got
10,000 troops from each of the SADC countries, plus another 10,000 from
Kenya and Uganda each, would the anti-democracy forces in Zimbabwe stand a
chance?

In the Zimbabwean crisis, African governments have an opportunity
to show that they are serious; that they are actually relevant when it comes
to tackling political problems that easily cost thousands of lives on the
continent.

Mugabe's party deserts supporters

Paul Tshuma did not waste the court's time
when he pleaded guilty to slaughtering a cow he took away from a neighbour's
kraal, which he fed to Zanu PF militants campaigning for President Robert
Mugabe in last month's one candidate presidential run-off
election.

A magistrate in the
southern town of Plumtree heard that ruling party militants told the
villager who was looking after the cow that they were collecting all stray
cattle on behalf of the government.

They slaughtered the cow valued
at US$800 (Sh52,000) and fed it to fellow veterans of the country's
liberation war who had set up a torture base to "re-educate" opposition
supporters ahead of the poll.

In his defence, Mr Tshuma said they
slaughtered the cow because the war veterans at the base were hungry and
believed the magistrate would be lenient because the former fighters were
"on national service."

His accomplices denied the charges and would
now have to wait for their time in court. The magistrate was quick to
deliver his verdict and it left Mr Tshuma sweating profusely despite the
freezing temperatures in the court room.

He was given nine
years behind bars and risks spending an additional six months in jail if he
fails to pay fine of US$800.

"I am now being treated like a
murderer and my comrades are nowhere to be seen yet we were doing work for
the ruling party," Mr Tshuma said as he tried to address the magistrate who
hardly showed interest in his story. "I was too stupid not to realise that I
was fighting other people's wars on the basis of empty
promises."

After securing a controversial sixth term in office
through the run-off condemned as a shame by world leaders, President Robert
Mugabe is under pressure to clean up his mess.

In the past
fortnight, the long arm of the law has been catching up with scores of Zanu
PF supporters who for more than two months rampaged through the countryside
killing opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters with
impunity in the name of Mr Mugabe.

Mr Misheck Gora from Masvingo
province, which recorded the highest number of killings of MDC supporters,
says he realised that things had changed soon after President Mugabe's
rushed inauguration just two days after the election. "I heard that police
had visited my homestead the day after the president was sworn in saying
they wanted to interview me over a case of political violence that happened
in the village," Mr Gora, who has appeared in court on charges of malicious
injury to property said.

Quickly contacted

"I quickly
contacted the Zanu PF provincial office asking them to intervene but they
told me that they can not protect me because the elections are
over.

"I am now alone and I am angry because these people abused us
and they have now left us to face the people that we tormented in the name
of Mugabe."

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe's main opposition party
could sign an agreement as early as Monday to begin substantive talks with
President Mugabe's party on ending a political impasse, opposition officials
said today.

The apparent breakthrough came after South African
President Thabo Mbeki proposed forming a team drawn from African regional
bodies and the United Nations to help him mediate the worsening crisis in
neighbouring Zimbabwe.

In another development, Zimbabwe will
transfer ownership of all foreign-owned firms that support Western sanctions
against President Mugabe's government to locals and investors from
"friendly" countries, a state newspaper reported today.

An
economic crisis

The southern African state is struggling with an
economic crisis many blame on Mugabe's policies, which has left it with an
inflation rate of over 2.2 million per cent and chronic shortages of food
and other basic needs.

Mr Mugabe's government blames the crisis on
sabotage by enemies angry over his seizures of white-owned farms for blacks,
and has followed up that policy with another controversial law seeking to
transfer majority ownership of foreign-owned firms to locals. The Sunday
Mail said preliminary results of Zimbabwe's audit of foreign investments
showed that 499 companies enjoyed British investments. Of these, 309 had
majority shareholders in Britain and 97 were wholly owned by
Britons.

The audit also found 353 firms with shareholders from
other European countries, the weekly said in a story largely attributed to
unnamed government sources.

A Zimbabwean goes home

After
15 years in SA, journalist Moses Mudzwiti returns to a time warp and
outstretched palms

Returning to Zimbabwe was like riding a time
machine. The idea came to me as soon as I crossed the border at Beit
Bridge.

Everything took twice as long - and even a simple
biro pen became a sought-after commodity.

I had expected to meet huge
numbers of desperate people wanting to cross into South Africa, but that was
not the case. Zimbabweans did what idle folk in small towns do - stare at
strangers passing by. There were no protests or victory parades in the
sleepy border town.

"Why are you coming back?" was the standard
question.

For the umpteenth time I told a policeman at a roadblock:
"After 15 years as a guest in South Africa, one has no more excuses for not
returning home."

"What have you brought us?" It was pathetic. The once
proud and incorruptible Zimbabwe Republic Police had been reduced to
uniformed roadside beggars. I offered some of them food, a loaf of bread,
milk or a drink.

This was enough to get me and my family through
roadblocks without having to endure a thorough search that would involve
offloading all our goods.

Not that I had anything to hide. It was just
the tediousness of it all. Between the border and Harare there were at least
10 roadblocks.

By the time we arrived in Harare it was clear there was no
uprising. President Robert Mugabe was not even in the country; he had
travelled to Egypt to attend the African Union summit.

By Tuesday I
had resigned myself to a boring and uneventful return.

Most things in
Zimbabwe had ceased to exist as I knew them before.

Payphones were long
abandoned. Zimbabwe no longer has coins.

When I first went hunting for a
job in South Africa, I used a payphone to arrange an interview with Anton
Harber, then editor of The Weekly Mail (Mail&Guardian).

I didn't
get the job, but the payphone was my salvation. In St George's Street in
Yeoville, Johannesburg, I used one to get my first break into the newpapers,
at Martin Creamer's Engineering News.

In an age of cellphones, e-mails
and broadband, I never thought I would miss the payphone. But in Harare
communication is difficult. When the Zimbabwe dollar depreciates, cell
operators simply stop processing calls until new adjusted airtime cards are
available.

The other day a relative had to board a taxi and travel
several kilometres just to deliver a message from someone who had called
from South Africa.

No one around here talks politics. It is almost as if
nothing has happened. The few whites I have seen aren't boisterous or
aggressive. They, like the rest of the population, are holding their
breaths, probably wondering when the madness will end.

Every day
radio and television spout messages of appreciation for Mugabe. Never mind
the farce that was the election - the man is ready for a long sixth term.
There is no sign he plans to give in any time soon.

"Elections came with
whites . we need to find our own way," suggested a streetwise
foreign-currency dealer.

The economic chaos has provided opportunities
for small-time dealers and petty thieves. The police say there are now many
more house break-ins. There have been reports of armed robberies and
hijackings, things unheard of in Zimbabwe in the past.

Nearly
everyone here has a stash of foreign currency, which includes rands, pounds
and US dollars. These currencies are considered a hedge against the
ever-decreasing value of the Zimbabwe dollar.

I should have known.
Each month for more than a decade I saved a reasonable amount of money in a
local bank. I saved millions of Zimbabwe dollars, which soon became
billions.

But the value has since been eroded. My stash has lost its
value. It was worth several thousand rand and now it translates to just R5
or R10.

Notwithstanding the madness, I am happy to be home. East or west,
home is always best.

Re: Zimbabwe, going...

Punch, Nigeria

By Our readerPublished:
Monday, 21 Jul 2008With the rustling in President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe,
it might be apt to conclude that the days of the old war horse (Mugabe) is
coming to a disgraceful end.

Or is there not strife, brutalizing and
killing of the opposition members, inflation, corruption, deafness to
reasons, rigging of elections and other atrocities in that
country?

It has been proved that when an evil man or government wants to
expire, he/it devises all tricks to hang on to a last
lifeline.

Nigerians clearly saw it coming to the various dictators that
once held them hostage, with one of the dictators actually dying in office
in ignoble circumstances.

Zimbabweans may worry and be afraid of the
repressive government in Harare, but they will live to see the end of the
man who has laid their country bare.

Gerry Jackson: The radio heroine defying Mugabe's
heavies

Independent, UK

As Zimbabwe clamps down on free speech, Gerry Jackson's British radio
station is reaching out to its most helpless citizens, writes Kim
Thomas

Monday, 21 July 2008

Barely a day goes by without
more bad news from Zimbabwe, whether it's the rigged presidential election,
the murder and torture of the regime's political opponents, or the rampant
inflation that has reached 2.2 million per cent.

But for people
living in Zimbabwe, news is hard to come by. Broadcasters are controlled by
the state, most independent newspapers have been banned and foreign
reporters are outlawed. Impartial information about what is going on in
their own country is a rare and precious commodity.

For many Zimbabweans,
one small radio station, broadcasting on shortwave from the UK, offers the
only opportunity to find out what is happening. SW Radio Africa has been
broadcasting daily to the country since 2001, and continues to do so despite
funding problems and attempts by the Zimbabwean government to block the
signal.

The station was founded by Gerry Jackson, a Zimbabwean journalist
who used to present a music programme for the state-run Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) in Harare. During the food riots of 1997,
Jackson took phone calls from concerned listeners. "People were phoning the
studio all the time asking for information, because they were hearing that
cars were being stoned. They were very worried and they didn't know where to
travel. So I just started allowing people to say what areas to avoid, which
I think in a normal country would be the accepted way of dealing with a riot
situation."

Zimbabwe is not a normal country, however. After a
warning to stop taking the calls, which she ignored, she was marched out of
the studio by the station manager, and received her formal notice a few days
later. Jackson hatched a plan to set up her own radio station, but she had
to go to court to do so. In 2000, she won her case in the Supreme Court and,
on the advice of her lawyers, acted very quickly to start
broadcasting.

Within days, she had hired two members of staff, imported a
transmitter from South Africa and started broadcasting a test signal. But
before the station was even up and running, it was closed down. Jackson
found out when she took a phone call from her neighbour asking whether she
was aware that there were armed men in her garden. Paramilitaries had also
surrounded the studio and - again on the advice of her lawyers - she went
into hiding.

"I was outraged - this was absurd. This was a real radio
station. This was not propaganda. This was not anti-anything - this was real
radio that was being attempted. I was very, very angry."

But she was
not deterred. Determined to set up a radio station for Zimbabweans, Jackson
came to the UK and launched SW Radio Africa with a staff of eight in
December 2001. The process of setting up the station was fraught with
problems.

"Everything to do with this project has been unbelievably
difficult and continues to be unbelievably difficult," she says. Money was
hard to come by; the station has had to rely on funding from NGOs that
support independent media, such as the Open Society Institute. While the
station began by broadcasting three hours a day, a lack of cash means it is
now on air only two.

But radio remains the best medium for
communicating with people in Zimbabwe. People who don't have a television or
a personal computer will generally either own a radio or have access to one
- wind-up and solar-powered devices are popular. Shortwave is a powerful
tool against dictators and despots - a signal can travel thousands of miles,
so broadcasts can be transmitted into Zimbabwe from anywhere in the
world.

Each day, SW Radio Africa broadcasts news from north London to
Zimbabweans about the events in their country. Much of it comes from people
on the ground, who talk to the station on their mobile phones or send text
messages. The station's seven journalists are on the phone to Zimbabwe all
day, says Jackson, often experiencing difficulty in getting
through.

The job is extremely difficult. "You're dealing with incredible
violence," says Jackson. "It's a very depressing story to cover on a daily
basis. These are not people you don't know - these are friends and
acquaintances being killed." Last year, Jackson had to report on the murder
of a former ZBC colleague, the cameraman Ed Chikombo.

Many people,
increasingly desperate, are turning to SW Radio Africa for help, Jackson
says. "They have nowhere else to turn to. So, more and more, they turn to
the radio station and send text messages of appeal: 'I'm being attacked -
can you help me?'"

The Zimbabwean government has done its best to stop
the broadcasts getting through. In 2005, it began jamming the station's
signal, with help, Jackson believes, from the Chinese government. The
station has got round this by broadcasting on more frequencies: it is
difficult and expensive to block multiple signals, according to Bryan
Coombes, the broadcast director at VT Communications, which provides the
transmission infrastructure for SW Radio Africa. Nonetheless, the blocking
of the signal is a constant concern, and the station is now supplementing
its broadcasts with SMS messages to people's mobile phones. Currently, it
sends 25,000 SMS messages a day, and 1,000 people a week are asking to be
added to the service. The station also has a website (www.swradioafrica.com) where people can
listen to live and recorded broadcasts.

Jackson's contacts in
Zimbabwe have told her that the "small amount of hope" the station offers is
something they can hold on to. This is confirmed by Patson Muzuwa, a
Zimbabwean refugee who is in constant touch with friends back home: "People
need to know that there are other people still caring for them out there. So
many people in Zimbabwe don't know what is taking place in Harare . Without
the radio station, they wouldn't know how many people are killed, because
the state-controlled media will not publicise that."

The future, for
Zimbabwe and the radio station, is uncertain. "I don't know how long the
country can keep going," Jackson says. "The economic situation is beyond
belief, and people are literally just dropping dead from hunger now." In the
meantime, she and her colleagues live with a "very Buddhist point of view -
we take it a minute at a time. We just keep going day by day."

Mandela at 90, Mugabe at 84 - Two of a
kind

Zim Online

by Mutumwa Mawere Monday 21 July
2008

OPINION: On 18 July, the world joined South Africans in
celebrating the birthday of former President Nelson Mandela.

Although
it would be unfair to compare Mandela and Mugabe because the social,
political and economic dynamics in South Africa and Zimbabwe are different,
it cannot be denied that the circumstances and issues that propelled the two
into leadership positions were the same.

When Zimbabwe attained its
independence in 1980, Mugabe was 56 and when Mandela became President of a
democratic South Africa, he was 76.

Mugabe played a critical role in the
liberation struggle as did Mandela.

Both stood out as warriors in the
struggle against brutal regimes that were underpinned by undemocratic
constitutional orders in which the majority were denied civil
rights.

The two can be classified as founding fathers of post-colonial
states separated by a river, Limpopo, but sharing a common heritage and
confronted by similar challenges of nation building.

The two faced
the challenge of helping to shape and mould new nations informed by a brutal
and unjust past but offering a promise for brighter and inclusive order
under which the rule of law and property rights would be respected and
protected.

They both must have shared a vision for a brighter society in
which they could infuse into the new nation state all their ideals, beliefs
and moral values as well as the system they believed in.

What system
of government did these two founding fathers have in mind for the
post-colonial state?

Creating a new civilisation is never an easy
enterprise but the two individuals were uniquely positioned to lead the
nation-building project with a forward looking agenda.

One cannot
deny the fact that the reason Mandela is celebrated as an icon is not
ordinarily a cause for any celebration. There is no other person in the
world that has endured so much and yet been so misunderstood.

What
does Mandela really believe in? What is the role of the state in the
post-colonial era? Who is an African? How can the inherited dualistic
society be transformed?

Mandela's only crime, like that of many of
his colleagues including Mugabe, was that they were fighting to end a
race-based constitutional democracy in which the majority were alienated
from their political and economic sovereignty.

Mandela like Mugabe
before him was energised during the struggle by a socialist ideology. They
were both opposed to a market-based ideology as an instrument of
transforming an unjust and unequal colonial/apartheid order.

They both
believed in using the state as a reliable partner in the enterprise to
engineer social, economic and political change.

In fact, both ZANU PF and
ANC believe that the national democratic revolution can only be successfully
prosecuted through the intermediation of the state.

To the extent
that Mandela is still a member of the ANC one can safely conclude that he
still shares the vision that there can be no justice without revisiting the
dark past of colonialism and apartheid.

Whereas, for instance, the
founding fathers of the National Party that introduced apartheid were the
architects of institutions like Santam/Sanlam, we see no evidence of
institution building outside the state coming from both Mandela and
Mugabe.

Mandela has chosen to build philanthropic institutions around his
name while Mugabe has chosen to use the state as his private
fiefdom.

Mandela retired from active politics while Mugabe sees
retirement as an act of cowardice notwithstanding the perilous state of the
nation.

Mandela's cause has largely been sponsored by white people while
Mugabe does not believe that any white person can be trusted as a friend of
Africa.

Mandela's time has been occupied with the defining problems of
our time - poverty and HIV-AIDS - whereas Mugabe's time has been occupied
with unleashing terror and untold suffering to his people in the name of
protecting sovereignty.

They both shared a common worldview that a
market system could not be relied upon as an agent for change.

Their
struggles were also ideologically anchored and informed by the unacceptable
experiences and modus operandi of the colonial/apartheid state.

As the
world celebrates Mandela's amazing journey from a liberation fighter who
believed in violence as an instrument for political change to a peacemaker,
humanitarian, nation builder, humble, generous even to the people who made
his life hell, better and not a bitter individual, and a world celebrity, we
cannot overlook or ignore the fact that the pace of change even in South
Africa is slow and the people with the means and more to lose if meaningful
transformation does not take place have largely surrendered into the comfort
zone choosing to believe that Mandela is their insurance
policy.

Mugabe like Mandela was the architect of the policy of
reconciliation and yet today he stands as the bad boy of the African
experience.

He comes out as a bitter, angry, cruel, tyrannical and
power-obsessed despot.

If he had chosen Mandela's path,
notwithstanding the changes on the ground in terms of creating a better and
inclusive society, he would still be regarded as a great son of Africa and
perhaps competing with Mandela for the celebrity status.

Mandela made
a choice to put the interests of the country at the centre of everything he
has chosen to do while acknowledging the constraints imposed by age and
years of suffering.

Nation building is a contestable enterprise and there
are many who believe that leaders should be pathfinders rather than cheer
leaders who believe in the power of the individual to drive the change
agenda.

Mugabe believes that he alone has the wisdom to define, shape and
build Zimbabwe's future with citizens as the beneficiaries.

He
believes that he is a perpetual victim of white conspiracy and refuses to
defend his record without pointing a finger at someone.

Mandela
unlike Mugabe understood that there is a time for everything.

There was
no point in him monopolising the political space or deluding himself into
believing that he was indispensable to the change agenda.

His life is
being celebrated because it only takes an extraordinary individual to have a
generosity of spirit and the courage to accept that justice and freedom will
not come from looking at the past but in challenging the present generation
to invest in the change they want to see.

Mugabe still has to accept that
too much intervention and manipulation can be poisonous to social and
economic change.

Mandela was smart enough to realise that nation building
required a new spirit and instruments.

Mandela's famous words at the
Rivonia Treason Trial still ring true today.

It is important as we
celebrate the life of a remarkable African that we stop, pause and
critically examine what he had to say when he and his colleagues stood
accused for advocating for a better African civilisation.

This is what he
said:

"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the
African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought
against black domination.

I have cherished the ideal of a democratic
and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with
equal opportunities.

It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to
achieve. But if need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to
die."

I have no doubt that Mugabe believes that Mandela, by choosing to
retire before the eradication of the ills of apartheid, effectively betrayed
the ideals of the struggle.

If one listens carefully to Mugabe's
worldview it is obvious that he still holds the view that retiring into
celebrity status when access to economic resources including land have not
been democratised is counter revolutionary and not cause for any
celebration.

Mugabe believes that Zimbabwe like South Africa belongs to
black citizens and white citizens must never be made to feel comfortable in
the post-colonial era.

The citizenship laws of Zimbabwe as well as
the land are instructive.

Mugabe believes that his residual interest in
remaining in power is to complete the economic empowerment project that has
been dubbed "100 percent black empowerment", meaning that there is no room
for any white person ever dreaming of being part of the project and yet
their individual and corporate income still accounts for the majority of the
government's tax revenues.

At 90, Mandela cannot be rationally expected
to be actively engaged in the struggles of the time but as the Zimbabwean
crisis unfolds, an expectation is generally shared that he should say
something about the situation in which black domination led by Mugabe and
his colleagues seems to be the order of the day.

In 1956, Mandela
held the view that white domination should be condemned as should black
domination.

However, successful nation building compels leaders to add
their voices when the very values they stand for are being manipulated for
political expediency.

It would be beneficial to know where Mandela
stands on the key issues that challenge Africa's development
prospects.

On the rule of law and respect for property rights, we may
never know whether Mandela's inner and personal views are any different from
those held by Mugabe.

Mugabe holds the view that sovereignty is more
important than democracy and the right to property must be historically
defined and discretionary.

While Mandela has condemned xenophobia, it is
significant that South Africa at 14 years old has begun to exhibit symptoms
of hate and negativity.

The rainbow concept of a post-apartheid South
Africa has generally been embraced without any careful thought on the
obligations inherent in building and sustaining such a society on
citizens.

While the celebrations are taking place on the extraordinary
life of Mandela, citizens are more economically insecure and politically
vulnerable.

If Zuma can be subjected to what he believes to be unjust
treatment by a government he helped create while Mandela is still alive,
what hope exists for lesser souls?

The world now knows where Mugabe
stands on democracy, rule of law, property rights and race.

We may
not like what he says but it is important to understand the man before he
dies so that future generations can have a reference point to evaluate
him.

Unfortunately, Mandela may have decided to suppress his own views on
what kind of South Africa he wants to see.

The world may never know
the real feelings of the free Mandela and whether he is satisfied at the
state of the nation.

Both Mandela and Mugabe found themselves at the
defining moment in the development of their respective countries. They have
both made different choices with different consequences.

Africa's
future must be located in the minds and hearts of the generality of its
citizens and whereas leaders may have the knowledge of the past, the future
ought to belong to those who see it as a product of their
actions.

Leaders have a role to play and in the case of Zimbabwe the
results are known but in the case of South Africa the future will tell
unless citizens take urgent steps to take ownership of their destinies. -
ZimOnline